Cabinetry Tips and Tricks for Saving Money

Are you looking for some Kitchen cabinetry tips and tricks for saving money? It’s a reasonable request yet so tricky!

As a designer, I’ve struggled with cabinetry for years so I know how frustrating the process can be. Until two years ago, I would design the kitchen locating walls, doors, windows and all major appliances then my clients would take the plans and have someone else to design the cabinet layout. Then my clients requested that I layout the cabinetry and still take the plans to a cabinet shop where they would charge up to 2k for a design - but they had already paid me to design it, so that was frustrating! So, I started working with a local cabinet shop to custom build and install the cabinets.

They follow my plans to the ¼” and we work together on shop drawings to make the kitchen completely custom and high-end. But not everyone can afford or wants to invest in a kitchen like this. I found myself in this position with the Rocky Bay Home project so I thought I would share with you my process.

The kitchen dated to 1984 Oak raised panel cabinets - I’m sure you know it well. My plan was to freshen it up but not blow out the budget.

Step 1: PAINT the lower cabinets. Honestly, I didn’t even prime them because if I had painted bins (a white finish) on it when they scratch the white would have shown. Since I wanted a dark color, I simply painted them Benjamin Moore, Newburyport Blue mixed in C2 cabinetry paint.

My plan is to touch them up a few times a year, easy enough!

Step 2: IKEA cabinets were used for the upper cabinets. My builder was not thrilled about assembling and installing them but, the price and design were right. The dimensions were standard, so the layout was easy. I opted for white finish with glass doors on the ocean side.

Long and short, the cabinetry cost was under $2k with about another $1,500 in labor. Even new, super inexpensive box cabinets would have been about $7k with labor about $3,500 for install. Yes, while not a huge savings, it’s significant enough and I’m pretty sure these cabinets are better than the low-quality new cabinets that I would have ended up buying.

In the bathrooms, I had to replace them all together because they were molded and damaged. Again, IKEA was the best option and I really like the amount of storage that you get with these cabinets. In the apartment bath, I used the kitchen method and painted the cabinets with new formica countertops with a top mount sink to get it up to the 36” height that we are now use to.

My goal is to replace these cabinets in about 5 years and I certainly won’t feel guilty about retiring these at that point.